We have lots of different boxes for different purposes, such as gift boxes, jewelry boxes, safe boxes etc. some of the boxes have either electronic or mechanic locks. Some locks are to be opened with physical keys, other locks are to be opened by selecting or entering the correct code for the lock. On the other hand, people, especially kids, get rewarded for doing something good. It would be desirable if the User can be authorized to open a reward box or a gift box after he/she did some assigned tasks correctly. The tasks can be finishing a computer game, or doing a quiz, reading a book, or doing a chore, or some other physical tasks. That is, once a user finished the tasks, the box will be opened automatically, or the user will be given a code to open the box.
On the other hand, there are lots of vending machines, a user can insert coins or paper money or tokens, or swipe credit cards to get access to a vending machine. He/she can then punch the digit pads to select an item (across rows and columns). It would be desirable for the product promotions or advertisements to offer user incentives to do a quiz or game, or other tasks on their mobile devices. After the task is done, an item in the vending machine will he opened automatically. Or a pass code will be given to the user through his mobile device. The user can then enter the pass code on the vending machine, and select an item to open. Or, the pass code may only apply to one designated item, and only that designated item will be opened after entering the pass code.
Furthermore, there are lots of coin operated devices such as mini-carousel, or game stations, it would also be desirable to have the alternative task enabled switch feature. That is, a user can download the designated tasks using a mobile device and open the devices after the tasks are completed.
Finally, the user can use the said Task Enabled Switch to control the lighting, motion, voice or other functions of the connected devices.
The essence of this invention is a Task Enabled Switch, which allows the switch on a Switch Device (such as a box, a lock, a vending machine, a toy etc) to be controlled by a computer or a mobile device after a user successfully finished the designated task. Once the task is completed, the computer or the mobile device can turn on the switch automatically; or the user will be given a temporary pass code, the user can then enter the pass code on the computer, or on the mobile device or on the Switch Device to open the switch.
There can be two kinds of pass codes for the Switch, Device: one kind is the Owner Code for the owner, the other kind is Temporary User Codes for general users. The Temporary User Codes are temporary, and will be in-validated once the code is being used to open the switch. And new Temporary User Codes will be generated to replace the used codes, so that the user need to do some new tasks if he/she wants to open the Switch Device again.